Phonograph



Oct. 28 1924.

E. A. COUTURIER PHONOGRAPH Filed July 11. 192] 2 8huts-8hat l inward 57" wa' jJ /Z 6562x222 roar 35 tapered sound conveying passages devoid of Patented Oct. 28, 1924.

UNITED STATE ERNST A. GOUTURIER, OF LAPOR-TE, INDIANA.

PHONOGRAIPH.

Application filed July 11, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNsT A. GoU'rURIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Laporte, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Phonographs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to phonographs and has more particular reference to the sound reproducing and sound conveying apparatus.

Phonographs, as ordinarily constructed, embody a reproducer or sound box mounted upon the .end ofa single tone arm or sound conveying tube which is connected at its rear end by some sort of close fitting joint with the smaller end of the amplifier. I am aware that it has also been proposed to use a plurality of tone arms, but in each instance, they have been equipped with joints and also joined to the amplifiers so that the passages for the sound waves are more or less tortuous so as to interfere with the progress of the sound waves and set up eddies and cross currents which detract from the clarity of the tones produced and furthermore, these joints are prone to become loose so as to vibrate and rattle, thereby detracting from the quality of the tone of the instrument.

One of the primary purposes of my present invention is to produce a machine which will utilize the vibrations from both sides of the sound box diaphragm, and which will conduct these vibrations through gradually sharp bends and joints entirely to their point of egress from the machine, thereby enabling the machine to utilize to the highest degree the vibrations produced by the diaphragm and conducting these vibrations Without interference and permitting them to gradually expand so that they are delivered unimpaired in quality and in full volume to produce loud, clear and true tones. Another object of the invention is to so mount the sound conveying tubes which conduct the sound waves from the reproducer to the amplifiers that any possibility of rat tlingor mechanical vibration of joints is eliminated, and with this end in view, the two sound conveying tubes are rigidly connected together and mounted to swing about a common Pivot, their delivery ends being projected into and disposed out of contact withv the receiving ends of the amplifiers.

Serial No. 483,696.

Another object is to produce a phono graph which will be simple in construction and economical to manufacture, one which will not be liable to get out of order, one which will be easy to manipulate, and which will faithfully and clearly reproduce the records without impairing the tones by sharp deflections of the sound waves or mechanical noises resulting from vibrating joints, or the like.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated on the accompanying drawing, one preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, my invention and many of its attendant advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings: 7

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a phonograph embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through one of the amplifiers, the sound conveying tubes being shown in full lines and Fig. '3 is a view looking at the delivery ends of the amplifiers.

Referring to the drawings more in detail, it will be observed that the machine comprises a cabinet which may be of any preferred size and construction, preferably embodying the sound board 5, beneath which the motor (not shown) is carried, and upon which the revolving record table 6 is mounted, a rear wall 7 a front wall 8 (preferably rabbeted as indicated at 9 to receive a movable grill which closes the delivery ends of the amplifiers) and a bottom wall 11 for the amplifier and motor compartment, the structure of the cabinet beneath that portion shown on the drawings being of any pre-. ferred character and customarily adapted as a storage space for the records.

I/Vithin the compartment beneath the sound board 5 I have mounted a pair of amplifiers 12 and '13 respectively, which as.

will be apparent from the drawings, are

gradually tapered, from their delivery to their receiving ends so that the sound waves are permitted to gradually expand in their outward passage therethrough without; encountering any abrupt enlargements or any restrictions in the passages which would tend to cause deflection of the waves and detract from the clarity and purity of the tones produced. The receiving ends 14 of I the amplifiers are turned upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2 and are seated in somewhat elongated openings 15 and 16 formed in the sound board 5, the longitudinal axes of these openings being disposed at an angle to each other, as will be apparent from Fig. 1 for purposes which will be. later explained.

The sound box designated generally by reference character 17 may, so far as the present invention is concerned, be of any preferred type adapted to deliver vibrations from. both sides of the diaphragm in opposite directions. The details oif construction of the sound box need not be gone into fully in the present instance since the sound box herein illustrated forms the subject matter of my co-pending application, Serial No. 4183,657, filed July 11, 1921. It is believed to be suificient to state that this sound box is carried by and between and rotatably connected to the inturned opposed ends of the sound conveying tubes 18 and 19, and that it is capable of rotative movements be tween the ends of these sound conveying tubes from the full line posit-ion shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, wherein the sound box is accessible for needle replacements. Normally, the sound box is locked in the operative position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 by a latch which may be released when desired by pressure exerted upon a thumb piece 21 at the top of the box.

Each of the sound conveying tubes is radually tapered from its receiving to its delivery end, as will be apparent from Figs. 1 and 2, thus permitting the sound waves to gradually expand without interference by sharp bends, restrictions, or abrupt enlargements, and the delivery ends of these sound conveying tubes project downwardly through the openings 15 and 16 in the sound board 5 into the receiving ends of their respective amplifiers. It should be noted, however, that the openings through the sound board and the amplifiers are sufficiently large so that there is no contact between the amplifiers and the sound conveying tubes.

For the purpose of supporting the tubes in position, I have provided a supporting arm 22, having a downwardly extending pintle at its rear end which rotatably fits within a socket 2 1 fixed by screws or otherwise to the rear wall 7 of the cabinet. The torwaa'd end of the arm 22 is equipped with a T 25, in the cross head oi? which is rotatably disposed a rod 26 extending beneath the respective tubes 18 and 19 and into a socket 27 depending from the bottom of each tube, the rod being securely locked in position in the sockets 27 by set screws 28. Collars 29 fixed to the rod 26 at each end oi" the cross head 25 hold the rod against longitudinal displacement in its support.

By this mounting it will be apparent that the sound conveying tubes, while substantially balanced by reason of the support intermediate their ends, are capable of limited vertical movement about the axis or the rod 26 from the full line position shown in Fig. 2 to the dotted line position shown in this figure, which is sufficient to clear the needle from the record. The outer ends of. these tubes and the sound box sligthly overbalance the larger delivery ends of the tubes so that normally, the sound box is held by gravity in operative relation to the record 31 on the table 6, but without objectionable pressure thereon.

The sound tubes being locked together by their connection with the sound box and by the set screws 28 by which they are secured to the rod 26, are movable as a unit about the vertical pivotal axis of the supporting arm 22, and during the operation of the instrument the tubes and sound box travel rznisversely of the record about the axis of the pintle 23 as a pivot, and it is for the purpose ot permitting this swinging movement of the tubes 18 and 19 as a unit without interference with the amplifiers into which they project that the openings 15 and 16 are made of elongated iorm as shown in Fig. 1. ihe relative disposition of the longitudinal axes of these openings permits a wide range swinging movement of the sound box not only toward the center of the record table so that a complete record may be played, but also in a reverse direction, so that the sound box may be moved entirely outside the perimeter of the table for the replacement ot records. lit will be apparent therefore, that the sound waves emanating from the sound box are conducted through the gradually enlarging sound conveying tubes 18 and 19 into their respective amplifiers where again they are permitted to gradually expand until the delivery ends of the amplifiers are reached. The sound conducting tubes are devoid of joints and are rigidly fixed relatively to each other to move as a unit and there is no contact or connection whatsoever between these sound tubes and their respective amplifiers into which they extend. All possibility of mechanical sounds resulting from the vibration of loose joints is theretore entirely obviated, and the tones issuing from both sides of the diaphragh are conducted without sharp defiection or interference to the delivery ends out the amplilicrs trom which the tones issue with extreine purity and clearness in maximum volume.

it is believed that my invention, its construction, mode of operation, and many of its advantages will be appreciated from the foregoing without turther description, and while i have shown and described a preferred embodiment 01 the invention, obviously its details of construction may be varied Within Wide limits without departure from the essence of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a phonograph, the combination of a sound box, a pair of sound conveying tubes connected at opposite sides of said sound box, said connection permitting rotative movements of the box relatively to said tubes, a cross connecting rod rigidly connecting said sound tubes together intermediate their ends, a supporting arm pivotally mounted between and rearwardly of said tubes, a pivotal connection between the free end of said arm and said rod, and amplifying means loosely surrounding the ends of said tubes but free from contact therewith into which the sound Waves emanating from said sound box are delivered by said sound conveying tubes.

2. In a phonograph, the combination of amplifying means, a plurality of sound conveying tubes having downturned delivery 7 ERNST A. COUTURIER'. 

